‘Elitist’ California

Re “Trump ‘basically going to war’ with state on immigration, says governor” (sacbee.com, March 7): California has developed the arrogant, elitist attitude of a spoiled child. If we don’t like a rule, just ignore it. If we don’t like what someone is saying, denounce them as uncaring, attack them with half-truths and ridicule rather than facts. Our state leaders declare we have the right to openly disobey federal law. Our country’s Constitution says otherwise. The issue of immigration has been taken over by the elitist “one worlders” who would have open borders, no national identity. No country can exist that way, and that’s just what they want; the destruction of our nation.

Bill Jurkovich,

Citrus Heights

Liars and bullies

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Re “Go ahead, Mr. President. Bring it on” (Editorials, March 7): I want to thank the editorial board for the well-written, well-considered, well-presented editorial confronting Trump's attempt to bully California. It was insightful and strong without being defensive or offensive. Thank you for calling a lie a lie, and not an “untruth” or another euphemism. Bullying is exactly what Trump and Sessions are doing, and it is indeed quite ironic that Sessions, a pro-Confederate southerner from Alabama and a states’ rights defender, would suddenly be in favor of federal overreach. I learned from The Bee that overstaying a visa, a very common event, is a civil infraction, not a crime. As for holding the innocent Dreamers hostage with his stupid wall, let’s remind Trump that he was going to make Mexico pay for it. Of course, it was a lie.

Claudia Krich, Davis

Truth about hops

Re “From avocados to kale: How one man forever changed the way we eat” (sacbee.com, March 6): Daniel Stone’s facts about David Fairchild introducing hops to America are incorrect. According to the “Oxford Companion to Beer,” the “first cultivated hops were introduced in1629 by the Massachusetts Company to stabilize local hop availability. Hop cultivation spread along the Eastern seaboard as new towns and communities provided support for hop production... Hop production began on the Pacific Coast some time around 1850, when hop yards in Oregon and California were established.” Our brewery, El Dorado Brewing Co., began producing hopped beers in 1853 in Stockton.

Gregory Upton,

El Dorado Brewing Co.,

Diamond Springs

NRA in numbers

Re “This Sacramento-area school district gets more NRA money than any other in the U.S.” (sacbee.com, March 9): The NRA claims to have 5 million members. Pew Research estimates that more than 14 million Americans consider themselves members. There are 235 million eligible voters in the United States. If you use the NRA number, this represents 2.1 percent of eligible voters. If you use the Pew number, the percentage is 5.9. Recent polls show that nearly 90 percent of Americans overwhelmingly support common sense gun reform. Yet the NRA is calling all the shots (no pun intended). Why should an organization that represents such a small fraction of voters have such great power? I think we know the answer, but this situation can be changed.

Paul Ogden, Auburn

Parallel universes

Re “Group names Trump in campaign finance complaint” (sacbee.com, March 12): The unfolding tale of President Trump and the porn star makes me wonder if there is some plausibility to the concept of parallel universes. At times like this it seems we live in a universe where Franz Kafka sits behind a curtain pulling the levers that control events.

Kudos to the kids

Re “Schools worried about the National School Walkout are missing the point of democracy” (Editorials, March 13): Congratulations to students being vocal about their need for school safety. A 17-minute walkout is a plea for change across the country. These students are some of the most effective advocates in modern times, although it remains to be seen if they are successful. They have garnered attention, kept the path open for others to join them and are certainly an inspiration. Voices matter, and soon these students will be voters, and that matters as well. So follow through, students, and make a difference. That’s democracy!

Willie Dickerson,

Snohomish, Wash.

California taxes

Re “Caltrans is desperate to fill thousands of new jobs” (sacbee.com, March 12): I feel fleeced by the state. I drove 3,500 miles through seven other states and did not encounter as many potholes, bumps or trash on the highway as I do in just one mile of Highway 99. If funds from the previous road improvement tax were not being diverted for non-highway purposes, our new gas tax would not be needed. Nor would the desperation occur to hire workers who already should have been in place. I think the term for this is bait and switch, which our legislators are well known for doing with taxpayer-funded programs.

John Clark, Gold River

The real ‘waste’

Re “Why Sacramento County dumped 290 tons of recyclables in a landfill” (sacbee.com, March 13): The problem is with seeing unusable materials – pizza boxes, etc. – as “waste.” Paper can be shredded and mixed with sawdust from green waste to make logs or wood pellets for pellet stoves. Glass can be ground down to sand or left in larger pieces as a gravel replacement for concrete. Plastic can be converted into the source material for 3-D printers. Perhaps the county should offer a nice prize for the best, most cost efficient things that can be down with “unusable” material.